The present invention relates to a distributed network architecture for recording a stream of analog or digital data.
In the current state of the industry, in order to record the contents of a telephone call, computer transmission, television program, or any form or type of analog or digital data transmission, there are two basic methods. The first method is “logging,” which consists of recording every transmission, from initiation until termination, regardless of the content or characteristics of the transmission. Because logging is independent of the contents and characteristics of the transmission, if a specific transmission is to be reviewed, it becomes necessary to record every transmission. Recording every transmission, however, requires a significant amount of storage space. Further, because of the number of transmissions recorded, it is difficult and time-consuming to locate a specific transmission.
The second method of recording a transmission is “event driven” recording, which records a transmission upon the occurrence of a certain condition or event. In some instances, the recording condition may be the start of the transmission (which is, in effect, the logging method), while in other instances the event will occur during the transmission (such as when a user presses a “record” button during the transmission). Other events may be time-based, such as when recording begins and ends at a specific times. One difficulty of an event driven recording system is properly defining the event that initiates recording. An overly broad event may record too many transmissions, while too specific of an event may not record enough. Another disadvantage of event driven recording is that the event may occur, or may occur at the wrong time, resulting in not all of the content of the transmission being recorded. Yet another disadvantage is that if the event cannot (or does not) occur until after the initiation of transmission, then the transmission that occurs prior to the event is not recorded. Further, for communications via computer instant messaging, a similar disadvantage occurs when the content of the conversation may “scroll off” the screen before the user can save the earlier portions of the conversation.
The above described recording methods all deal with a centralized network architecture. That is, the functional components that manage call control and voice transmission are all centrally located in a Private Branch Exchange (PBX) of a private network. More specifically, a recording initiation device such as a recording phone has to obtain all call control information and voice data for other phones in connection therewith from the PBX.
What is needed is distributed network architecture for recording voice data between telephones.